On Thursday, July 29th– Cristina Hale proudly graduated from Leadership Tampa Bay! Cristina, a CPA, serves as the Tax Office Managing Partner at BDO USA’s Tampa office, a premier accounting, tax, financial advisory, and consulting organization with offices nationwide as well as internationally. Leadership Tampa Bay has promoted prosperity and vitality for more than 30 years in the community. Their mission is to engage their members with businesses and community leaders to enhance knowledge of regional assets and issues. The class of 2021 began in January with a retreat at Saddlebrook. Due to COVID-19 the program was condensed due to a late start which meant individuals had to be more dedicated than ever. For seven months the students toured Tampa and learned in depth about the city. Cristina stated, “My favorite day was Social Services Day, as I was able to learn more about Feeding Tampa Bay, an organization I have been involved with for the past year. I also got to learn about many other organizations in the Tampa Bay area from the read outs from other teams. Law Enforcement Day was another favorite. Spending an entire afternoon at the FBI, hosted by one of our classmates, was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I loved Sports Day too and getting to take pictures with all of the trophies and learn more about the organizations.”
To top the journey off Cristina’s life changes for the best. She met the love of her life who happened to be a fellow classmate. They were grouped together during the opening retreat and remained friends for six months. Recently, they discovered there was something more. “It’s been such a wonderful surprise and the icing on the cake for an incredible 7 months of the program”, said Cristina.
Below are a few photos of Cristina’s experience. We are proud of her and BDO for their impact on the community.
